Ayung Naru
Unlike many countries whose borders are drawn by geopolitical circumstances, the boundaries of Ayung Naru come not from topography or political history, but from the ley lines that run thickly through the country. These resevoirs of magic have been likened unto blood vessels upon the planet's surface, and they are so close to the surface of Ayung Naru that nature responds to them. The mages of Ayung Naru for countless generations have followed the winged insects that flock to the pulsing ley lines, using the insects' color-changing properties to identify the type of Chrono that flows there. Culture In contrast to the rigorous scientific method of most of their arcane neighbors, the people of Ayung Naru tend to have more loosely defined settlements that come and go, much like the ley lines of magic they follow. There is a belief that the more strictly one tries to label something, the more difficult it is to understand. This is thought to be because the mind will focus too much on the definition of the label and whether or not something fits rather than actually comprehending the concept or object at hand. This in turn shapes how the Ayung Narians approach magic; they see it as something that is altogether inexplicable or that exists as a force of nature. Just because magic has patterns and observable properties does not make it something that is to be labeled and defined. Because they do not wish to define magic, arcane mages in Ayung Naru do not use spellbooks to transcribe spells. Instead, they have a variety of charms and bangles with specific runes or aspects of nature that "write" the spell and can be drawn on to prepare it. Some might also have large expanses of rope and vine for each spell they know, and specific series of knots or frays in the rope serve as the indicator for what spell it is for. Colloquially, these are called spellcharms, usually by people outside of the country. Within Ayung Naru, they are mostly called oul-yung, and they can be dramatically different from person to person, requiring a deep understanding of arcane magic to decipher someone else's oul-yung. Though divine magic exists to an extent in Ayung Naru, ley lines are inherently arcane, and Ayung Naru's focus on magic also uses arcane magic as its keystone as a result. Divine magic is seen as something to augment or support the understanding of the arcane. Because divine magic does not require things such as oul-yung charms, it is not something that can be mastered or understood more fully; it is simply something that happens in tandem with the expansion of one's mind and understanding of the world. In effect, the Ayung Narian view of divine magic is that it comes from the self, whereas arcane magic comes from the world. The ley lines of Ayung Naru shift, and the country's people seek to follow them. When a ley line disappears, many settlements will pack up and leave entirely, or they will send out scouts to find the ley lines. The insects of Ayung Naru have an innate sense for the ley lines and congregate around them, their wings changing color based on the presence of certain spectrum Chrono. For this reason, those who have familiars or other animal companions in Ayung Naru will mostly draw on the insects' sense for magic, though some might have an animal originally trained for another purpose that became a familiar. Category:Ealdremen Nations